Pharamacology I + II
The biggest challenge of the 4th year, almost all of the other subjects can be ignored for most of the year but not this one. This will pick up from your physiology and pathophysiology knowledge and then add lots to it. Trying to remember everything you have already learned plus extra is a big task so it really should not be left until the exam period to start studying. This subject is very useful and it pays to do well, it will help you for the rest of your career. It is also the last big theoretical subject that you will do to round off all your general medical knowledge. After you complete this you will know what how the body works normally, what can go wrong and now and now how to fix it. All other clinical subjects will just give specialist information for their own subject based on all these things How to pass There are several ways available each with their advantages and disadvantages, try each and pick the best combination for you Obviously there is the standard go to the lectures and the seminars, while the seminars are obligatory the lectures are not. The lectures give more than is expected, but of course every lecturer will want to hear what they have said back to them if you get them as an examiner Unlike most of the other subjects, you will not go over lecture material in the seminar, there is too much material for that There are notes that students have made but as usual they are either incomplete and in some cases wrong Combining notes and lecture/seminar printouts will give you everything you need The book is very good but contains way too much information, you already have too much to learn I wouldn't recommend adding more There is a sketchy program called Sketchy Pharma, it is no way near as good as the Micro version but I found it useful to revise the physiology, it is however incomplete for the topics you will need for the final All of these resources together will give you everything you need about the theory behind each topic but none of them are particularly good at helping memorise the names of the drugs. There will be hundreds to learn, way more than most people actually can, focus on the first drug historically in each topic and then at least 2 drugs for each major subgroup Now what is a major subgroup? This can be a number of things depending on the topic but mainly they are: * Used specifically for a disease or syndrome * The different approaches for treating the same disease or syndrome * Used in diagnostic test * Selectivity of drugs Examiners are more impressed by a structured answer to a topic rather than vomited information, if the topic allows explains a full organisation before specifically talking about you chosen topic e.g. if you get anti metabolites in cancer therapy then talk about all possible strategies for treatment first. Some topics are so obscure that even the examiners don't really know much about them e.g. protozoa and heminths and anti-viral. As long as you know superficially about these topics it is unlikely you will be asked anything deeper It is always better to know something little about everything rather than lots about a few things The semi final is done with your own seminar teacher so it pays to be in good standing with them, the final could be with anyone The semi final is very negotiable depending on your teacher, try and get them to reduce the number of prescriptions that they will ask you If you get more than 80% average of the midterms in each semester you will be able eligible for a bonus * 1st semester - you can take the semifinal in the last week * 2nd semester - you can enter the competition The second one is not really a bonus for me, you still have to place very high in the competition and you will only get exempt from the written part in the final, and the ranking includes all three language courses not just the English speaking students The first one is very good, you will have a lot of exams in the Christmas exam period so getting the most difficult one out of the way first is great The prescription writing exam is not difficult but it is annoying, you have to memorize the 20 or so prescriptions that are on the website and then rewrite 1 perfectly. In the English course it is better as you can write the prescriptions in English or Latin, the other two language courses have to write in Latin only The toxicology and clinical exams are multiple choice and there are past papers around, you can also use your common sense, they are not difficult. Depending on your examiner they may or may not take your midterm grades into account when giving your final grade The only doses worth memorizing are for opioids 'The exams' 1st semester: Midterms: * 2 x multiple choice or short answer exams ** Based on the material in the seminars and the lectures Semifinal: * Oral and written ** prescription writing exam ** 3 oral topics, 1 from each *** General pharmacology, ANS *** Neuro and psych *** Antimicrobial, antiviral etc. 2nd semester Midterms: * 3 x multiple choice or short answer exams ** 2 based on the material in the seminars and the lectures ** 1 toxicology and prescription writing Final: * Oral and written ** 10 multiple choice question exam *** Clinical pharmacology ** 3 oral topics, 1 from each *** General pharmacology, ANS, Cardiovascular, GI *** Neuro and psych, Pain, Hormonal, Cancer *** Antimicrobial, antiviral etc. 'Difficulties' The amount of material is enormous, it may not be as much as anatomy but its is close and you have a lot less time to do it in Drug names, either they are all so similar that you mix them up or they have no similarities and so you forget them Just because you have picked your topics doesn't necessarily mean these are the only ones you will talk about, they can all be linked together so the topic you pick is usually just a starting point As with most subjects now each examiner will have an area of interest and will try to get you on that topic no matter what you chose, learn what each examiner is interested in and study that part in a bit more detail, usually it will be similar to the lecture that they give You will feel no pressure in this year but this one will be a fail if you do not put any effort into it Conclusion This seems to be the last big challenge before the final year so don't blow it, I will obviously change this in the 5th year when there is something harder